Three teens face charges in murder

Metro Police detectives arrested three teenagers Thursday afternoon in connection with the fatal April 25 shooting of 16-year-old Loren Johnson inside her home on Chesapeake Drive.

DeAngelo M. Moody, 16, and Ortago L. Thomas, 17, are charged with criminal homicide at Juvenile Court, police said. Martez Matthews, 17, was taken into custody at a Sumner County group home.

Police say detectives have developed information that Moody and Thomas both fired shots from inside a car as the vehicle turned from Brickmont Drive onto Chesapeake Drive.

Johnson, a Whites Creek High School student, was killed by a bullet that pierced the walls of her home as she read a book in her bedroom. Police say the shooters were apparently firing at other persons on foot in the neighborhood.

“North Precinct detectives have dedicated hundreds of investigative hours on this case over the past seven weeks,” Chief Ronal Serpas said. “We now know that innocent Loren Johnson was tragically killed by young people who had no regard for firing guns in a populated neighborhood.”

Moody and Thomas will be held in juvenile detention pending a hearing.